The keepsakes of the night
by nebhat04
Summary: Fluffy, sweet and funny situations mostly about Kahoko and Len. Short and each chapter will be different. For special request, I can write about different pairing. Please, read and review ;


**The keepsakes of the night**

**Chapter 1: Courage**

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><p>The restaurant was filled with the flickering light of scented candles. It beamed a cozy atmosphere and people chatted animatedly. Soft laughs and silent smiles eclipsed the murky mood of a certain man.<p>

"Len, my dear… did you delve deep into those poor shrimps?"

With a meticulous movement, the young man placed his fork next to his plate and looked up to meet the concerned eyes of his mother. A brilliant smile left her lips just to comfort her only, precious 'little' boy but he didn't show any sympathy at the woman.

"I'm not hungry…"

He replied in a cold tune and the mother was sure of the kernel part of his lack of appetite. And the reason was sitting across the table, represented in a silver dress with long, strawberry locks…

"Hino-san… you also don't have appetite!"

Hamai Misa smiled again and rethought the idea of coming for a 'match-making' dinner with Len, Kahoko and her husband who was just sitting next to Kahoko, silently sank into his food. He was no use for the desperate mother. She couldn't have expected any help from her husband.

She was sure that Kahoko and Len formed a couple but they still needed someone to push forward the time. Len was too shy and inexperienced with women and Kahoko was too dense to discover her boyfriend's desires.

Hamai Misa pretended not to see those wee sparkles in Len's eyes as he glared at the beautiful young woman in front of him. His entire orbs were set ablaze as the effect of one smile from the beloved woman.

Of course, Kahoko, as the scatty girlfriend, misunderstood those pure illuminations in his eyes and mistook the gesture: quickly, she picked up her napkin and begun cleaning her pink lips like something would have been stuck on them. Len covered his mouth with his hand just to suppress a soft guffaw because he understood Kahoko's behavior. Only she was capable of replacing his flinty heart with placidity whenever she spread her magic with those redolent smiles.

"I'm sorry… I think I've already eaten too much…"

Her words were stammering but she managed to curve her lips up. She was more than uncomfortable with the situation. She had the knowledge of Hamai Misa's personality and she shivered anytime the middle aged woman brought up the marriage and grandchildren topic. It was not that she disliked it but Len didn't show any interest in those conversations and it irked her to death.

"You should eat, my dear! I want healthy grandchildren!"

Here we go again… Kahoko mused and studied Len's reaction. He was like a breathing stone in fancy suit and tie. He crossed his arms across his chest and shut his eyes. Kahoko was piqued and her cheeks were tinted in a dark cherry color. Thank God that the restaurant had air condition and she could have cooled down quickly.

Nobody talked and Hamai Misa sensed the awkward situation so she retreated but for not a long time when she discovered that Len was stretching his legs forward.

"Next time we should invite your family! I feel bad that we haven't done it before…"

The mother took a mouthful portion of her noodles and looked around the table. She didn't expect any answer but Len struggled to avert his movements under the table with some wise statements:

"Mother, I agree! But I'm afraid that you would scare the Hino family with your vent of words."

And he leaned closer to the other side of the table then said a silent 'thank you God' pray for having long table-clothes.

"Why do you say that?"

Hamai Misa pursed her lips up in a mischievous manner and tried to figure out her son's ambiguous movements under the table.

"I have my own peculiar reasons…"

Before he reached his aim, he took off his right shoe and as fast as he could, his right foot landed on another foot… then he continued to climb up until the knees and he rested his foot on that specific point.

He left out a tiny smirk towards Kahoko which was not his habit but somehow he wished to soothe down Kahoko's mood. Well, he found another embarrassing method to do that…

The girl, like always, mistook the smirk and quickly picked up her napkin, again, and cleaned her lips. Frustration ran through Len's nerves and he depicted a small circle with his big toe on the knee but he didn't receive any reaction from the girl.

"I believe that we're done for the night!"

Len's father proclaimed his first sentence during the whole evening and he signaled to the waiter to get the bill.

In the parking lot, Hamai Misa helped to Kahoko to get in the car and she dialed a number for a taxi.

_"Son… next time if you do something naughty, make sure that you're knocking on the right door!" _

The father patted Len's shoulder and the young man felt so mournful and awkward that he was looking for a hole to hide… He had thick socks and he didn't feel that actually the knees that he was caressing were not Kahoko's… well… _we cannot blame him since he never touched Kahoko's knees before… How could he know how does it feel to skim her knees?_

"Drive safely!"

The older Tsukimori hurled the keys to Len.

"What about you?"

Len questioned his parents how they will go home.

"We'll fetch a taxi…"

The mother sent an encouraging smile at her son and the parents waited until the young couple left the parking lot.

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><p>"Ka…Kahoko…"<p>

"Yes… Len…"

They stopped at the beach and for several minutes, they were just staring at the starry sky.

"I'm sorry… for my mother…"

He apologized but actually he was not that sorry. He was rather thankful for his mother to bring up topics like marriage because he was a coward to talk about it in a free manner.

"It's not a problem…"

She smiled and leaned closer to Len who enveloped her in a tight embrace. He mustered up his courage and his hand landed on her soft knee. She almost jumped up after the sudden contact but he held her and planted a tiny kiss on her cheek. He played around with the velvet skin and studied her reactions anytime he drew a circle.

"Maybe… my mother is right about the marriage…"

And he continued his minuscule touches on her bare knee…

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot and please don't forget to review ;) <strong>

Ahhh... I know I should update Roommates and Light plus Shades... I feel really bad that I was so silent in the last few weeks... I was really busy and tired and somehow I lost my interest in my own stories, can you believe it? But I'll try to finish Roommates for sure.** If somebody is interested in Light plus Shades and The worst fairy ever, I can trade the plot!**

About this... well... I was kind of bored so I wrote this one and I have more. I challenge myself with short writings and with various situations mostly about Len and Kahoko fluffy and sweet moments, but for special request, I can write a short one about another pairing ;)

For next chapter... will be** Jealousy** :P


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